A good article here on the sustainability of oil. I have never been a believer in "Peak Oil" or is was from dinosaur corpses. But I also am not a petroleum engineer, geologist or work in the oil industry.
If there are others who know more of this, please chime in.
THE REAL SOURCE OF CRUDE OIL WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH AN EXPERIMENT PERFORMED BY A COMPANY IN HOUSTON IN 2004. THEY DECIDED TO TEST A RUSSIAN THEORY DATING FROM THE 1960S THAT STATES THAT CRUDE OIL COMES FROM PLANKTON IN THE SEA. HERE IS THE THEORY:
PHYTOPLANKTON PERFORM PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND ABSORB CO2 FROM THE AIR. THE PHYTOPLANKTON ARE EATEN BY ZOOPLANKTON THAT PRODUCE TINY SHELLS. WHEN THE ZOOPLANKTON DIE, THEY FALL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. THEIR ORGANIC MATTER ROTS, BUT THEIR SHELLS LEAVE BEHIND CALCIUM CARBONATE, CaCO3, A DURABLE CARBON CONTAINING COMPOUND. OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS THE CALCIUM CARBONATE BECOMES BONDED TOGETHER INTO SOLID MARBLE OR LIMESTONE.
SOMETIMES THAT MARBLE IS THRUST UP OUT OF THE SEA AS IT IS IN PLACES LIKE VERMONT. IN OTHER AREAS, IT CAN BE THRUST DOWN INTO THE EARTH (SUBDUCTED). WHEN IT REACHES A DEPTH OF ABOUT 60 MILES, THE EXTREME PRESSURE AND HEAT CAUSES CALCIUM CARBONATE TO REACT WITH WATER AND IRON OXIDE TO PRODUCE NATURAL GAS (METHANE, CH4). WHEN IT REACHES A DEPTH OF ABOUT 100 MILES, CRUDE OIL IS PRODUCED.
NOTE THAT WHEN WE BURN CRUDE OIL, CO2 IS RELEASED TO FEED THE PLANKTON, TO PRODUCE MORE CALCIUM CARBONATE, TO PRODUCE MORE OIL... THUS CRUDE OIL IS A RENEWABLE RESOURCE.
I had heard about it some years ago. It was one of those things that just gets shoved into a corner of the brain.
ReplyDeleteI saw an article this evening on oil and it triggered it.
There are too many new formations being found for it not a renewable source.
So "over millions of years" this stuff gets converted to oil. I still see a problem in the rate of production versus our rate of consumption. And new oil discoveries all seem to be shale or sands, i.e. more expensive and/or environmentally harmful to extract. A little skepticism is definitely warranted toward the "happy days are here again" stories coming from the oil industry. We're in uncharted territory as compared to traditional oil drilling/extraction...
ReplyDelete